1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inspection management apparatus, an inspection management system, an inspection management method, and a computer readable recording medium, which manage examinations in a capsule endoscopic system using a capsule endoscope that is introduced into a subject and captures images of inside of the subject.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, examinations using capsule endoscopes that are introduced into subjects, such as patients, and capture images of inside of the subjects are known in the field of endoscopes. A capsule endoscope is an apparatus that has a built-in imaging function, a built-in wireless communication function, and the like provided in a casing of a capsule shape formed in a size introducible into a digestive tract of a subject, and after being swallowed via a mouth of the subject, captures images while moving inside the digestive tract by peristaltic movement or the like and generates image data. The capsule endoscope sequentially transmits the generated image data by wireless to outside of the subject.
The image data wirelessly transmitted from the capsule endoscope is received by a receiving device provided outside the subject, and accumulated in a built-in memory or a portable memory. After the examination ends, the image data accumulated in the memory is transferred to a workstation, a server, or the like, and subjected to specified image processing. A medical worker performs diagnosis on the subject by observing the images generated as described above.
Transfer of the image data from the receiving device to the workstation or the like is generally performed such that, after the end of an examination, the receiving device or a portable member removed from the receiving device is set in a reading device connected to the workstation or the like and then the data is read. Alternatively, the image data may be transferred via wireless communication, a mobile phone line, the Internet, or the like. In such a case, the image data may not necessarily have to be transferred after the end of examinations, but may be transferred at various timings, such as immediately after the receiving device has received image data from the capsule endoscope (real time transmission), when a certain amount of image data is accumulated in the receiving device (quantitative transmission), at specified time intervals (periodic transmission), or depending on communication quality, such as a bandwidth or congestion of a communication line.
As a technique related to transfer of image data, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2010-165109 discloses a medical image diagnosis apparatus that stores images scanned and generated based on examination appointment information including an observation scheduled date and time, controls transfer queues of the images based on the observation scheduled date and time, and reads and transfers the images from a storage means under control of the transfer queues.